When table in Writer have merged cells and we save document in doc format and then open it again, cells become unmerged. This problem is on Linux 64 bit. On windows 32bit it works properly.
To reproduce this problem:
- start Writer with new empty document.
- create table with 2 columnt and some rows
- select some cells in one column(important that in one column) and merge them
- save file in doc format
- use File->Reload. Cells become unmerged.
Writer do not saves merged cells and do not loads them.
produced on Mandriva 64 bit with LibreOffice 3.3.2

Created attachment 45346[details]
document saved by Writer, merged cell lost
I have added 2 files:
One from Word. It opens in Writer OK.
Second from Writer. Merged cell lost.
To produce second file I have opened it by Writer and saved under another name

(In reply to comment #0)
> When table in Writer have merged cells and we save document in doc format and
> then open it again, cells become unmerged. This problem is on Linux 64 bit. On
> windows 32bit it works properly.
> To reproduce this problem:
> - start Writer with new empty document.
> - create table with 2 columnt and some rows
> - select some cells in one column(important that in one column) and merge them
> - save file in doc format
> - use File->Reload. Cells become unmerged.
>
> Writer do not saves merged cells and do not loads them.
>
> produced on Mandriva 64 bit with LibreOffice 3.3.2
I can confirm that I have the same problem on two machines running Ubuntu 11.04 64 bit.

Yes, it's very similar to Bug 54259, probably the same cause.
Except that you say "This problem is on Linux 64 bit. On windows 32bit it works properly." I had a problem on Windows 7 Sp1 64bit, while on Ubuntu 32bit it looked fine. It's a little bit strange.
Please add this one to 3.5. MAB, it's only in text, not in MAB.

reproduced problem with attachment in previous comment on 3.6.1 on Fedora 64 bit and in 3.6.0rc on Windows XP 32 bit. Merging lost during saving to doc.
Additional: experiments shows that lost are merging in column. If we select some cell in one column, merge them and save to doc, then merging will be lost. But merging several cells in one row will not lost.

Given that bug 54259 was (a) new in LibreOffice 3.6.x and (b) seems fixed now, both just like bug 54862, it seems clear that the present bug, which is much older (LibreOffice 3.3), is *not* the same issue as bug 54259. We have two independent issues here; and it is possible that the present issue is really confined to the Linux platform, as the first reporters stated.
Can someone who knows the present issue well please confirm if it is still reproducible in a current LibreOffice 3.6.3 daily (or master daily) build? You can download them from
http://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/
Thank you very much!

Created attachment 68322[details]
Screenshots for bug 35991, step by step
@ Sasha:
Thank you very much for reproducing -- and for the steps to reproduce!
Using them, I can also REPRODUCE this issue on Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Intel) with LibO 3.6.2.2 (I did not succeed with similar, but slightly different steps!). So the problem is NOT limited to Linux, as I assumed.
The attached screenshots show the sample document created according to Sasha’s description (comment #17), after step 2, step 3 (correct), and step 5 (wrong).

Created attachment 68323[details]
Test file created according to comment 17 with LibO 3.6.2.2 on Mac OS X 10.6.8
Test file created according to comment 17 with LibO 3.6.2.2 on Mac OS X 10.6.8,
i.e. after the final step 5. Exactly this file is visible on the screenshots.

Created attachment 68324[details]
Test file for bug 35991 comment 17 after step 5 opened in MSO 2010
Ah, and when I open the test .doc file created according to Sasha’s steps (comment 17) in MS Office 2010 (on Windows 7), the table is correct again --
see the attached screenshot.
IMHO this indicates that this is a FILEOPEN, not a FILESAVE problem: the .doc file created by LibO is (mostly?) correct, but LibO itself does not open it correctly again.

@ Cédric Bosdonnat,
@ Michael Stahl:
Now that this issue is separated from similar issues (bug 54259 etc.) and confirmed as still reproducible, at least on Fedora and Mac OS, with some easy steps to reproduce it and some additional hints added, could you find some time to look into it? We all know that you have got much other important work, but there is a good chance that this bug affects quite some documents out there, so this bug seems quite important.
Thank you very much!
*
Adapted the summary according to test results (FILEOPEN, not FILESAVE problem).
Also, right now confirmed for 64bit only.

Wait a minute -- sorry sorry sorry!
Right after hitting “Save Changes”, I realized that I have made a big mistake. Until comment #16, everything is fine; but then, why did I not realize that I made just the error which I wanted to prevent with my comment #15? It must be cold -- one should not do bug wrangling with headaches ;-)
The steps given in comment #17 show the bug in LibO 3.6.2.2 and in LOdev until ca. 2012-09-30, but this issue is NO LONGER REPRODUCIBLE with LOdev 3.7.0.0.alpha0+ pull time 2012-10-04 12.52.50. With this master build, which includes the fix for bug 54259 and bug 54862, the cells remain merged after step #5 in comment #17, and the .doc file is shown correctly now.
Therefore, what the test from comment #17 and my screenshots and sample files show is just again the same issue about LibO 3.6.0-3.6.2 as in bug 54259 and bug 54862, and both are fixed now.
**** So please ignore comment #18 to comment #21! ****
What we still need is a way to reproduce this issue clearly in a *current* LibreOffice 3.6.3 daily (or 3.7/master daily) build, just as I stated in comment #17. If someone manages to reproduce it there, we know that this issue still exists.
Reset Summary and Platform.
*
@ Cédric Bosdonnat, Michael Stahl:
I am very sorry for wasting your time! Nothing is to do about this issue until someone can confirm that it still exists.

I can confirm the issue persists. Linux (Ubuntu 12.10), LibreOffice Version 3.6.2.2
Following the steps in comment #17, the adjacent cells in the rows remain merged but the column reverts to separate columns.

@ Loz Saunders
(and @ all):
Thank you very much for testing! However, I am sorry to say so, but your test suffers from the same error which I have made in my comments 18 to 21 ;-).
If we test with LibreOffice 3.6.2.2, as I did and you did, we may very well just reproduce bug 54862 (a regression introduced in LibO 3.6.x). What we need to find out is if *this* special issue, which has similar symptoms as bug 54862, but is far older and possibly limited to Linux, is still reproducible.
To clarify this, we need to test with a version of LibreOffice in which bug 54862 is already fixed; i.e., either with a LibreOffice Master (3.7) build made after 2012-10-01 23:12:04 UTC, or with a LibreOffice 3.6 daily build made after 2012-10-02 10:57:30 UTC.
You can download these daily builds from
http://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/
Or, in the near future, with some 3.6.3.x build (coming soon).
If, and only if, somebody succeeds to reproduce this present issue, according to Sasha’s original description in comment #0, with such a *current* build, we know that this bug still exists, and can ask the developers to debug and fix it. Else, if several tests show that nobody can still reproduce this issue, we can close this bug report as RESOLVED/WORKSFORME, assuming that this bug was fixed somewhere in the development process.

(In reply to comment #26)
> Still exists in 3.6.3.1
Dmitry, thank you very much for your testing results! If this bug is still reproducible in 3.6.3.1, it is really independent from bug 54862.
Can you please explain in some detail (best: step by step!) what you did to reproduce this bug in 3.6.3.1? And on which Platform (Linux, ...) did you reproduce it? Thank you in advance!

(In reply to comment #28)
> (In reply to comment #26)
> > Still exists in 3.6.3.1
>
> Dmitry, thank you very much for your testing results! If this bug is still
> reproducible in 3.6.3.1, it is really independent from bug 54862.
>
> Can you please explain in some detail (best: step by step!) what you did to
> reproduce this bug in 3.6.3.1? And on which Platform (Linux, ...) did you
> reproduce it? Thank you in advance!
I was able to reproduce it on Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit using the following steps:
- start Writer with new empty document
- create table with 2 columns and some rows
- select some cells in one column(important that in one column) and merge them
- save file in doc format
- use File->Reload. Cells become unmerged.

(In reply to comment #29)
> - select some cells in one column (important that in one column)
and merge them
This is another interesting difference to bug 54862: IIRC, I have seen the latter also with merged cells *across* columns, just like in attachment 68426[details].

Version 4.0.0.0.alpha0+ (Build ID: 04f2f0), works fine.
Steps reproduced:
- start Writer with new empty document.
- create table with 2 columnt and some rows
- select some cells in one column(important that in one column) and merge them
- save file in doc format
Cells were still merged after reloading.